Apparatus for testing motor vehicles



D. BUTLER.

APPARATUS FOR TESTING MOTOR VEHICLES.

, APPLICATION FILED APR. 8, 1920. 1,407,377.

attozvum Patented; Feb. 21, 1922.

2 SHEETSSHEET l- D. BUTLER.

APPARATUS FOR- TESTING MOTOR-VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 8. I920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented Feb. 21, 1922.

6 1 6 Qnvemfoz t ll i UNWEEDD STATES earner o some;

AEPARATUS FOR TESTING EZQTOR VEHIGLM.

To all whom it may concern."

Be it known that 1, DAVID BUTLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Montezuma, in the county of flayuga and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Testing Motor Vehicles, set forth in the annexed specification.

My inventionfrelatestesting motor vehicles.

It is the purpose of my invention to provide an improved construction of apparatus of the type named which will enable the draft or pull, speed, and imperfections of the motor to be determined without subj'ecting the motor vehicle to bodily travel.

It is my further purpose to provide an apparatus of the type named which can be easily controlled and which will eliminate the use'of brakes with resultant wear of parts. v

With the foregoing and other-purposes in view my invention consists in the details of construction and in the arrangement and combination of parts to be hereinafter more fully disclosed and particularly pointed out in the claims.

llndescribingmy' invention in detail reference will be had to.the accompanying drawing wherein like characters of reference denote correspondin parts in the several views, and in whic Fig.1 is an end view of my improved apparatus;

Fig. 2, 10

to apparatus for a section" on the line 2-2of Fig.

Fig 3, a plan view with-the tra ment of a motor vehicle shown in dotted lines;

Fig. 4, a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the manner of anchoring a. motor vehicle to the supporting vplatform of the apparatus for testing; and 7 A Fig. 5, a section on the line 5-5 of-Fig. 1 showing in detail an anchoring connection. Referring to the drawings my improved motor vehicle testing apparatus is shown as comprising a foundation door 10 from which rises a lurality of uprights which support at a esired elevation a platform or tioor 3120 In this instance l have only Specification of Letters Patent.

application filed April a,

Patented ran at, ease rose. seen Eta-$752,153.

shown three of such uprights at 13, 14 and 15, but it will be understood that as many uprights as desired may be employed to perform the function of. supportlng the plat form 12, and as the uprights 13, 1a and 15 are the only ones directly related to the constructionot my apparatus the illustration of this limited number is deemed sufficient. Rotatably mounted on the uprights .13, 1d and 15 is a horizontal shaft 16 upon which is fixed disks 17 and 18 which project respectively through openings 19 and 20 in-the platform 12 so as to be in position to be peripherally engaged by the drive wheels of a motor vehicle. These disks 1'? and 18 are provided with rubber tires 21 and 22 and the disk 18 is located between the uprights 1t and 15, which latter are disposed relatively near together. Mounted between the uprights 14 and 15 beneath the disk 18 for plvotal movement in a vertical plane is a frame A which has fixed thereto a cylindricalaxle 22' and rotatable on this axle is a pressure wheel 23 provided with a rubber tire 24: and disposed in the same plane as the disk 18 whereby upward pivotal movement of the frame will force the pressure wheel 23 into peripheral engagement with the disk 18. In order to impart upward pivotal movement to the frame A to force the wheel 23 against the disk 18 and thereby impose a desired load on the disks'l? and 18 and shaft 16 l utilize a hand screw 25 threaded .in a bracket 26 mounted on the platform 12 and extending through an opening 27 in said platform. The lower end of the hand screw 25 1s swiveled to the upper terminal link eta chain 28, while the lowerend "of this chain is connected to the free end of a frame 2" By this construction it will be apparent that upon rotation of the hand screw 25 in a direction to impart upward movement there to the frame A will be-swung upwardly and the wheel 23 forced into engagement with the disk 18 with constantly increasing pressure and with a resultant increasing hrahng action at the journal of the wheel-n 1.8 and The amount of pressure on erted upon the dish 18 hy the wheel 23% will ll it of course be determined by the particular yieldable type which has proven of a distinct advantage in the construction of a machine of'this type.

To anchor the motor vehicle being tested to the platform 12 so that its drive wheels will be in peripheral engagement with the disks 17 and 18 I mount on the platform 12 spaced guide rails 12' to which are secured respectively in a slidable manner corre-. sponding ends of anchor chains 29- and 30, the other corresponding ends of these chains being adapted for connection to a suitable part of the motor vehicle frame. To determine the draft or pull of a motor vehicle I provide a, flexible anchor chain 31 which is somewhat shorter than the anchor chains 29 and 30 and has included therein a spring draft measuring indicator 32. One end of this chain 31 is anchored to the platform '12 and its otherend secured in a suitable chor chains 29 and 30 have a sliding connection withsaid rails.

In order to determine the speed of a motor vehicle throu hv the operative engagement between its rive wheels and the disks 17 and 18 I operatively connect the shaft 16 with a speed indicating device 33. It will of course be understood that this speed can be determined without any load being exerted on the disks 17 and 18 or with a desired load exerted upon said disk. It will also be apparent that my apparatus can be readily converted into a power plant with the motor of the vehicle as the source of power. This is accomplished by simply anchoring the motor vehicle to the platform 12 with its drive wheels engaging the disks 17 and 18 and providing the shaft with a pulley 34 which can be easily belted to any machine that it is desired to operate.

While I have described one particular form of carrying my invention into practwo t will be apparent that the same is susceptible to. changes informs and proportions and to desirable additions with the exercise of only ordinary mechanical skill and with out departing from the scope of the 'ap pended claims.

' What I claim is:

1. In a motor vehicle testing apparatus, the combination of a support, a shaft rotatably mounted on said support, a pair of members fixed on said shaft with which the drive wheels of a motor vehiEle are adapted to be peripherally engaged, a frame pivoted to the support for movement in the plane of one of the members on the shaft, a pressure wheel rotatably mounted on the frame and adapted to be forced into peripheral engagement with one of the members on the shaft by pivotal movement of said frame, and means for pivoting said frame to force the pressure wheel into peripheral engagement with the related member on the shaft. 2. In a motor vehicle testing apparatus, the combination of a support, a shaft rotatably mounted onsaid support, a pair of members fixed on said shaft with which the drive wheels of a motor vehicle are'adapted to be peripherally engaged, a frame pivoted to'the support for movement in the plane of one of the members on the shaft, a pressure wheel rotatably mounted on the frame "and adapted to be forced into peripheral engagement with one ofthe membars on the shaft by pivotal movement of said frame, and screw means for pivoting said frame to force the pressure wheel into peripheral engagement with the related member on the shaft.

3. In a motor-vehicle testing apparatus, the combination of a support, a shaft rotatably mounted on said so port, a pair of members fixed on said sha with which the drive wheels of a motor vehicle are adapted to be peripherally engaged, aframe. pivoted to the support for movement in the plane of one of the members on the shaft, a pressure wheel rotatably mounted on the frame and adapted to be forced into peripheral engage ment with one of the members on the shaft by pivotal movement of said frame, a hand screw operatively mounted on the'support, I

and aflexible connection between the hand screw and the pivoted frame whereby rotation of the hand screw inone direction will force the pressure wheel into peripheral envgagement with the related member on the shaft.

i. In a motor vehicle testing apparatus, the combination of a support, a pair of rotatable members thereon with which the drive wheels of a motor vehicleare adapted to be. peripherally engaged, means'for varying the load opposing the rotation of said members, a flexible anchoring element having one end secured to the sup ort and its other end adapted to be secure to a motorchoring element, a pair of guide rodssecured to the support, and additional anchoring elements having corresponding ends measuring device has been operated to a predetermined extent.

I In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

DAVID BUTLER.

Witnesses:

THOMAS F. NOLAN, DANIEL FARRELL. 

